July 25, 2017

Microsoft Reverses Decision to kill their 'Paint' App this fall due to Overwhelming Fan Feedback within the last 24 hours

Back in 2014 Microsoft fans made it clear that Windows 8 was a bloody disaster. That disaster hurt Microsoft badly with fans refusing to upgrade to the new OS and more importantly, holding back hardware updates because of it. I personally own a PC and an iMac and I was one that refused to upgrade until the desktop was once again revived and respected. The young design team completely disrespected an older generation in the workplace in favor of some fruity tiled nightmare. Flash Forward to yesterday and Microsoft almost shot themselves in the head again.

Yesterday news broke that Microsoft was ditching their beloved MS Paint app with the next Windows update this fall. For many, MS 'Paint' is one of the best and simplest graphic apps on the planet today for creating simple graphics fast and easy with a few creative options. It really has no equal. I tried to find an equivalent for my Mac and gave up. Most graphics apps are just overly complicated. Non-Photoshop users want simplicity and Paint was the answer.

I rarely get angry over something like software but even I jumped on Microsoft's feedback line yesterday and gave them hell from A to Z. It was revealed earlier today that feedback to keep the app alive was overwhelming. Microsoft has decided to keep the little app, with its 100 million user base, but not natively on their next OS update. All Paint fans will be able to download the app from the Windows Store in the not-too-distant future for free.

Microsoft reacted professionally and quickly before they had another Windows 8 fiasco on their hands. In the day of social media, anger travels very quickly and negativity can linger and affect future hardware sales in protest.

Apple's Pro community was really angry about the new MacBook Pro's over-focus on style rather than functionality and they made a lot of noise about that fact. Apple's Phil Schiller angered fans even more by trying to downplay their anger and telling them that they would eventually get over it. But Apple did finally turn the corner by admitting that they'll be introducing a new modular Pro desktop in the future (hopefully in 2018) that Pro fans seem to be buzzed about for now.

In the end, Microsoft went from a decision to kill 'Paint' this fall to resurrecting it within 24 hours because of overwhelming fan feedback. It's a win for the little guys and a message to tech companies to not be so flippant in decisions that affect their base. This should have been the basics of business 101: Thou shalt not piss-off paying customers with whimsical decisions that are brain dead from the get go.

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